Baltasar Gracián Quotes

January 8, 1601 – December 6, 1658

Baltasar Gracián y Morales (January 8, 1601 – December 6, 1658), most widely known as Baltasar Gracián, was a Spanish Jesuit author regarded as one of the most accomplished prose stylists of the Baroque era.

Baltasar Gracián Honorable beginnings should serve to awaken curiosity, not to heighten people's expectations. We are much better off when reality surpasses our expectations, and something turns out better than we thought it would. This rule does not hold true for bad things: when an evil has been exaggerated, its reality makes people applaud. What was feared as ruinous comes to seem tolerable. Maxim 19 (p. 12)

Baltasar Gracián Some marry the first information they receive, and turn what comes later into their concubine. Since deceit is always first to arrive, there is no room left for truth. Maxim 227 (p. 128)

Baltasar Gracián To hear a prince's secrets is not a privilege but a burden. Many smash the mirror that reminds them of their ugliness. They cannot stand to see those who saw them. Maxim 237 (p. 134)

Baltasar Gracián Some people belong entirely to others … They have not a day, not an hour to call their own, so completely do they give themselves to others. This is true even in matters of understanding. Some people know everything for others and nothing for themselves.Maxim 252

Baltasar Gracián Don't live by generalities, unless it be to act virtuously, and don't ask desire to follow precise laws, for you will have to drink tomorrow from the water you scorn today. Maxim 288 (p. 162)